The Nelson Bay-based tourism operator is running at about 50 per cent capacity at a time that is traditionally one of the busiest of year - the Easter long weekend and school holiday.

Business development manager Mel Turner said the business, which prior to the pandemic had been heavily reliant on overseas visitors, had worked hard to keep its 20 highly skilled full time employees as engaged as possible in recent months.

"[The end of JobKeeper] will undoubtedly have an impact," she said. "We hopefully won't have to let staff go, but we will be considering a reduction in hours for some full time employees to soften the blow. That is consistent with the occupancy levels of the business at the moment."

Moonshadow was forced to close its doors for the first time in 39 years at the height of last year's lockdown.

"We had 70 per cent of our business turned off overnight," Ms Turner said.

The JobKeeper subsidy, which ended on March 28, allowed the business to diversify and pivot into the domestic market, which has helped keep it going in recent months.

"International travel was a very big part of our business. We were heavily embedded and invested in this market," Ms Turner said.

"To have this switched off overnight, we needed to strip back the business, build on our core products, and really assess what our domestic traveler wanted and what we could offer.

"We have had stable domestic visitation but obviously we are dealing with a lot of competition in regional towns. Now that the flight discounts have come in, there is further competition diluting an already competitive domestic market."

In a bid to entice more domestic trade, Moonshadow has diversified its cruise offerings.

Now on offer is the Moonshadow-TQC Historical Series Cruises commentated by Port Stephens fishing identity John 'Stinker' Clarke.

The tour takes in Broughton and Fingal Islands, the Outer Light and Western Harbour, and includes oyster farming stories.

From April 2, Moonshadow will be running its twice daily dolphin watch and boom net cruises direct from Tea Gardens.

"The inquiry rate from the Tea Gardens-Hawks Nest side has always been substantial," Ms Turner said.

"We have transitioned our business over the recent months which has given us an opportunity to service this area with full time departures. The initial response from operators including the caravan parks, accommodation and the visitor information centre has been very encouraging.

"They are delighted to have us over that side of that bay on a regular basis."

From May 2, Moonshadow will begin the Coastal Odyssey Cruise - a Nelson Bay to Newcastle and reverse service that will include stories of the shipwrecks along this stretch of coast.

Whale watching cruises will begin on June 1, departing every Wednesday and Saturday at 10am.

On June 2, Moonshadow will launch its Western Harbour Historical Cruise. This will take in Corrie Island, the Myall River entry, Pindimar, Tahlee and Karuah. This cruise will also include commentary from Mr Clarke.

For full cruise details go to moonshadow-tqc.com.au or phone (02) 4984 9388.

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